Effects of Sustained Impromptu Speaking and Goal Setting on Public Speaking Competency Development: A Case Study of EFL College Students in Morocco

Abstract

Research on impact of sustained impromptu speaking on public speaking competency development is scarce and lacking. The researcher investigated Moroccan college students' public speaking competency development through extemporaneous (i.e. carefully prepared and rehearsed) speech performance, after implementation of a teaching strategy involving treatment through weekly impromptu (i.e., involving little or no preparation) speaking sessions combined with individual goal-setting strategy (teacher feedback). For this purpose, the researcher assessed 64 extemporaneous speeches delivered over the course of a semester using the public speaking competence rubric (PSCR), and observed the students' public speaking progress through 90 impromptu speaking activities using a weekly goal-setting strategy. Results revealed that a combination of sustained impromptu speaking and goal-setting contributed significantly and effectively to public speaking skills development over the course of the semester. They also clearly showed that the teacher's weekly goal-setting strategy played a major role in building speakers' confidence and overall improvement. Considering the linguistic and cultural background of the students involved, together with the speech genres and the instructor's task requirements, new public speaking competency dimensions and sub-dimensions have been identified.

Public Speaking and Online Peer Feedback in a Blended Learning EFL Course Environment: Students’ Perceptions

“…Prior to online interaction, the researcher scheduled three impromptu speaking sessions in the University auditorium to introduce the students to relaxation exercises and collaborative activities for anxiety reduction (Rumbough, 1999;El Mortaji, 2017) and classroom connectedness (El Mortaji, 2018). In addition, the instructor introduced the students to important concepts like peer feedback and samples of speech analysis activities to prepare the students for their independent online interaction and learning.…”

“…They highly valued the online peer review using the course-video based blog. Thanks to peer feedback they learned from their mistakes; watching the performance of their peers helped them compare their delivery to other peers and set new goals, which turned out to be an effective strategy to correct mistakes and progressively improve their delivery (El Mortaji, 2018). In fact, they improved their public speaking skills as they moved from one speech to another.…”

“…A few extra face-to-face sessions were scheduled in an auditorium whereby the instructor guided the students' performance through collaborative impromptu speaking. Using a large stage, the students performed together in small groups and delivered the "collaborative impromptu speech" (El Mortaji, 2018). This activity served the purpose of creating classroom connectedness, tackling stage fright and anxiety issues, and improving delivery skills (El Mortaji, 2017); it enabled the students to put theory into practice and get ready for the self-recorded graded speech.…”

Using Contemporary Talk Shows to Develop Faculty of Education English Major's EFL Creative Speaking Skills and Speaking Self-Efficacy

“…Yet, those skills are not adequately addressed and used inside or outside EFL classrooms (Duong & Pham, 2022). The inability to apply EFL creative speaking skills is emerging from some internal and external factors as students' attitudes towards English (Canceran & Temporal, 2018), background knowledge and speaking competency (El Mortaji, 2018), speaking anxiety (Elkiran, 2021), teacher-centered instruction that places less emphasis on EFL students' interests and needs (Truong, 2017), and speaking motivation (Uztosun, 2021). Resultantly, EFL students cannot use EFL speaking skills for purposefully expressing ideas; skillfully avoiding misunderstanding or communication gaps and above all gaining the audience's full attention (Kadamovna, 2021).…”

How Undergraduate Students Capture English Impromptu Speech Challenge

“…There are various English-speaking practices; impromptu is one of the methods that can be implemented by University students. The ability to speak or give an impromptu speech is very important to be practiced (Mortaji, 2018). According to Nawi and Yasin (2015), an impromptu speech is without any prior preparation or planning to start speaking.…”